Data Privacy Notice

As an organisation we are committed to treating your data with the utmost respect and take our responsibilities seriously.

About Severn Wye Energy Agency

Severn Wye are a non-profit company and a registered charity that administer, deliver and contribute to a wide variety of sustainability projects; whether on behalf of public authorities, funding bodies, or just in line with our charitable aims and objectives. Some will know Severn Wye independently, but most will encounter us through the delivery of one or more of the projects we work on. Behind these projects we are an organisation of experienced people, passionate about harnessing innovative ideas for building sustainable communities, businesses, schools and homes.

Due to the varied ways our projects are commissioned and funded, data is used slightly differently across each of them. In some of the projects we work on, Severn Wye is the data controller (we decide how to use your data); and in other instances the project funder is the data controller and Severn Wye is the data processor (we process your data on behalf of the funder). For the full details of how we use your data, see the specific Privacy Policy of the project you have been associated with. However, as an organisation we are committed to treating your data with the utmost respect and take our responsibilities seriously. The following is our organisational commitment to you, across all projects.

1. What information do we collect about you?

We collect information about you from interactions with our staff, project, or website; events you have attended; referrals made to us from partner organisations; market research; and phone calls and/or email contact you made to our team. The personal data we hold varies depending on the individual and the minimum we require to deliver services to you, but it typically includes:

• Name
• Contact details
• Relationship management notes
• Information relating to your personal circumstances, as needed to deliver meaningful advice and support services
• Information relating to your property or energy use
• Details of any funding or financial support you have received through our services

In some specific circumstances we may collect certain special categories of data. These may include

• Health data
• Ethnicity data

When we collect these special categories of data it is only in the event of needing to do so to assess your eligibility for a targeted scheme and/or monitoring the degree to which our services are meeting the needs of the community to which you belong. We will only collect special categories of data with your explicit consent.

Data held may also include correspondence, documents and any data you have passed to us to provide a service to you as part of this project. Online, we monitor website activity via cookies. These cookies monitor visitor behaviour, but do not include data that can identify you, except in the case of needing to provide login credentials to an online service.

2. How will we use the information about you?

The information we hold about you helps us to deliver the services you are involved in. We will also use this data to maximise the support we can give you; conduct feedback and evaluation on the customer service you have experienced; and communicate with you as relevant to the support you have received. We store your data securely and we will delete your data when it is no longer required by any of the projects or services you have chosen to be involved in, or when you withdraw your consent for marketing.

We use your data to communicate with you and to monitor and evaluate the Severn Wye activities you are involved in. Our projects are typically subject to regular monitoring, reporting and evaluation in collaboration with their respective funding bodies, and we share data with these organisations for these purposes. We will not sell or share personal information with third parties to market to you.

We may contact you for feedback on the service you have received from us, or to chat to you about the difference our support has made to your circumstances. We may ask you to opt-in to communications that relate to future opportunities Severn Wye may deliver that are designed to serve your needs, but you always have the right to choose not to opt-in to follow-up communications.

3. The lawful basis for processing your data

In most cases, the lawful bases we rely on for processing your information are:

1. Your consent. You are able to remove your consent at any time, see section 5 below.
   The majority of your personal data we will process because you give us consent to do so. This may include future analysis and the freedom to contact you in future if similar schemes become available that you may benefit from. You can withdraw your consent at any time.
2. We have a contractual obligation
   If you successfully apply to take part in a programme or funding scheme Severn Wye are delivering, this forms a contract between us so that we fulfil the service to you and to those funding it. In order to provide this service we are required to process your personal data. This may includes sharing data with some third parties and contacting you for feedback throughout the process.
3. We need it to perform a public task
   Where the funding for certain support services comes from public funds, the specific public task we undertake is the delivery, administration and evaluation of, as well as statistical, research and fraud prevention activities relating to these publicly-funded schemes.

4. How we store your personal information

Your personal data is securely stored on Severn Wye’s database and on our Microsoft Sharepoint servers, all based inside the EEA. Any hard copies of your data are stored securely at Severn Wye’s headquarters. We will hold your personal data for as long as required to deliver the service to you and/or complete the programme of works enabling it. We will then dispose of your information with routine data deletion.

5. Your rights 

You have the following rights relating to the processing of your personal data. However, in certain circumstances we are required to continue to hold some data for the purposes of audit, fraud-prevention and public record (see the lawful bases of processing above).

• You have the right to request information about how your personal data are processed, and to request a copy of that personal data.
• You have the right to request that any inaccuracies in your personal data are rectified without delay.
• You have the right to request that any incomplete personal data are completed, including by means of a supplementary statement.
• You have the right to request that your personal data are erased if there is no longer a justification for them to be processed.
• You have the right in certain circumstances (for example, where accuracy is contested) to request that the processing of your personal data is restricted.
• You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data where it is processed for direct marketing purposes.
• You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data.
• You have the right to withdraw consent to the processing of your personal data at any time, where processing is based on your consent.

6. How to make a subject access request or complaint

If you wish to exercise any of the rights you have relating to the processing of personal data, or have any concerns about our use of your personal information, you can write to us at Severn Wye Energy Agency Ltd, Unit 15 Highnam Business Centre, Highnam GL2 8DN. You can also contact us at data@severnwye.org.uk.

You can also complain to the ICO if you are unhappy with how we have used your data.

The ICO’s address:           

Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Helpline number: 0303 123 1113

ICO website: https://www.ico.org.uk

7. Policy updates

Severn Wye regularly updates its privacy notices and Data Security policies and procedures to comply with latest regulations and requirements.

This Data Privacy Notice was updated on 1 February 2023.